UCSD chancellor: Region’s future is S. County

CHULA VISTA  UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep Khosla told political and business leaders that San Diego’s future is in South County, during a reception Thursday evening at Southwestern College.

He thanked residents for a warm welcome at the event, which was a veritable “Who’s Who in South Bay” hosted by the South County Economic Development Council.

The goal of the public reception was to help forge relationships between South Bay residents and the University of California San Diego, which is ranked among the nation’s top 10 public universities by U.S. News and World Report.

Live jazz music filled the room as South County EDC CEO Cindy Gompper-Graves escorted the chancellor through the bustling crowd of business and political leaders in an effort to give him a crash course in the South Bay’s opportunities and developments, both economic and educational.

Khosla said his goal Thursday was simply to get to know the people and the issues in the southern portion of his university’s service area, and to offer his assistance in whatever capacity would serve the community best.

Chula Vista Chamber of Commerce CEO Lisa Cohen said the relationships between and among the region’s various higher education institutions are going to be critical in the coming years.

Melinda Nish, president of Southwestern College, said she is pleased that Khosla, only six months into his new job, has already embraced the ethnically and culturally diverse community with open arms. It’s a significant tip of the hat to South Bay residents that Khosla has opted to hold one of his strategic planning forums in National City, she added.

“He clearly cares about us and our students,” Nish said. “His message is student-focused, and that’s our mission, too; he wants UC San Diego to be more culturally diverse, and that’s directly related to what we do at Southwestern College.”

Nish hopes to forge and preserve a positive relationship with UC San Diego in order to make sure her students are prepared not only to transfer to top-tier schools, but to thrive in them.

Khosla told the crowd that he didn’t need a reception to make the trek to Chula Vista.

“Just the existence of the educational institution was enough for me,” he said.

He proceeded to talk about his goals for UC San Diego, of maintaining the school’s greatness after five decades of growth, before touching on the South Bay’s dream of a four-year university in Chula Vista.

UC San Diego has an $8 billion impact on the regional economy, Khosla said, with a $3.5 billion budget, $1 billion of which is for research.

“What that should tell you is that institutes of higher education are not just there to educate and graduate students, but there’s a really important role they can play in the economic development of a community,” he said. “The existence of a university in a community is really significant and research at a university is really significant for economic development.”

Khosla said Chula Vista’s dream for a four-year university is a critical one, and it deserves widespread support.

“My concern right now is maintaining the greatness of our university system, expanding that greatness of our university system and creating more access,” he explained. “And because our population is continuing to grow, we need more universities rather than fewer.”

Coming from the north, he said, he believes the future of San Diego County is in the south region.

His best advice to those trying to get a university off the ground, he said, is to be open to a broad base of research and industries coming out of the school, and make a strong commitment to seeing it through. Until the university is there, though, he said he is committed to making UC San Diego accessible and affordable for the most qualified students.

Khosla’s town hall meeting for strategic planning is scheduled for 6-7:30 p.m. Feb. 7 at the South County Regional Education Center on National City Boulevard.